TODAY IN HISTORY: JANUARY 22

 

January 22

 

613 – Eight-month-old Constantine is crowned as co-emperor (Caesar) by his father Heraclius at Constantinople.

871 – Battle of Basing: The West Saxons led by King Æthelred I are defeated by the Danelaw Vikings at Basing.

1506 – The first contingent of 150 Swiss Guards arrives at the Vatican.

1517 – The Ottoman Empire under Selim I defeats the Mamluk Sultanate and captures present-day Egypt at the Battle of Ridaniya.

1555 – The Ava Kingdom falls to the Taungoo Dynasty in what is now Myanmar.

1689 – The Convention Parliament convenes to determine whether James II and VII, the last Roman Catholic monarch of England, Ireland and Scotland, had vacated the thrones of England and Ireland when he fled to France in 1688.

1808 – The Portuguese royal family arrives in Brazil after fleeing the French army's invasion of Portugal two months earlier.

1824 – The Ashantis defeat British forces in the Gold Coast.

1849 – Second Anglo-Sikh War: The Siege of Multan ends after nine months when the last Sikh defenders of Multan, Punjab, surrender.

1863 – The January Uprising breaks out in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. The aim of the national movement is to regain Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth from occupation by Russia.

1879 – The Battle of Isandlwana during the Anglo-Zulu War results in a British defeat.

1879 – The Battle of Rorke's Drift, also during the Anglo-Zulu War and just some 15 km (9.3 mi) away from Isandlwana, results in a British victory.

1890 – The United Mine Workers of America is founded in Columbus, Ohio.

1901 – Edward VII is proclaimed King of the United Kingdom after the death of his mother, Queen Victoria.

1905 – Bloody Sunday in Saint Petersburg, beginning of the 1905 revolution.

1906 – SS Valencia runs aground on rocks on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, killing more than 130.

1915 – Over 600 people are killed in Guadalajara, Mexico, when a train plunges off the tracks into a deep canyon.

1917 – American entry into World War I: President Woodrow Wilson of the still-neutral United States calls for "peace without victory" in Europe.

1919 – Act Zluky is signed, unifying the Ukrainian People's Republic and the West Ukrainian National Republic.

1924 – Ramsay MacDonald becomes the first Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

1927 – Teddy Wakelam gives the first live radio commentary of a football match, between Arsenal F.C. and Sheffield United at Highbury.

1941 – World War II: British and Commonwealth troops capture Tobruk from Italian forces during Operation Compass.

1943 – World War II: Australian and American forces defeat Japanese army and navy units in the bitterly fought Battle of Buna–Gona.

1944 – World War II: The Allies commence Operation Shingle, an assault on Anzio and Nettuno, Italy.

1946 – In Iran, Qazi Muhammad declares the independent people's Republic of Mahabad at Chahar Cheragh Square in the Kurdish city of Mahabad; he becomes the new president and Haji Baba Sheikh becomes the prime minister.

1946 – Creation of the Central Intelligence Group, forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency.

1947 – KTLA, the first commercial television station west of the Mississippi River, begins operation in Hollywood.

1957 – Israel withdraws from the Sinai Peninsula.

1957 – The New York City "Mad Bomber", George P. Metesky, is arrested in Waterbury, Connecticut and charged with planting more than 30 bombs.

1963 – The Élysée Treaty of cooperation between France and West Germany is signed by Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer.

1967 – Between dozens and hundreds of anti-Somocista demonstrators are killed by the Nicaraguan National Guard in Managua.

1968 – Apollo 5 lifts off carrying the first Lunar module into space.

1968 – Operation Igloo White, a US electronic surveillance system to stop communist infiltration into South Vietnam begins installation.

1970 – The Boeing 747, the world's first "jumbo jet", enters commercial service for launch customer Pan American Airways with its maiden voyage from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to London Heathrow Airport.

1971 – The Singapore Declaration, one of the two most important documents to the uncodified constitution of the Commonwealth of Nations, is issued.

1973 – The Supreme Court of the United States delivers its decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, legalizing elective abortion in all fifty states.

1973 – The crew of Apollo 17 addresses a joint session of Congress after the completion of the final Apollo moon landing mission.

1973 – A chartered Boeing 707 explodes in flames upon landing at Kano Airport, Nigeria, killing 176.

1973 – In a bout for the world heavyweight boxing championship in Kingston, Jamaica, challenger George Foreman knocks down champion Joe Frazier six times in the first two rounds before the fight is stopped by referee Arthur Mercante.

1984 – The Apple Macintosh, the first consumer computer to popularize the computer mouse and the graphical user interface, is introduced during a Super Bowl XVIII television commercial.

1987 – Philippine security forces open fire on a crowd of 10,000–15,000 demonstrators at Malacañang Palace, Manila, killing 13.

1992 – Rebel forces occupy Zaire's national radio station in Kinshasa and broadcast a demand for the government's resignation.

1992 – Space Shuttle program: The space shuttle Discovery launches on STS-42 carrying Dr. Roberta Bondar, who becomes the first Canadian woman and the first neurologist in space.

1995 – Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Beit Lid suicide bombing: In central Israel, near Netanya, two Gazans blow themselves up at a military transit point, killing 19 Israeli soldiers.

1998 – Space Shuttle program: space shuttle Endeavour launches on STS-89 to dock with the Russian space station Mir.

1999 – Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons are burned alive by radical Hindus while sleeping in their car in Eastern India.

2002 – Kmart becomes the largest retailer in United States history to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

2006 – Evo Morales is inaugurated as President of Bolivia, becoming the country's first indigenous president.

2007 – At least 88 people are killed when two car bombs explode in the Bab Al-Sharqi market in central Baghdad, Iraq.

2009 – President Barack Obama signs an executive order to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp; congressional opposition will prevent it being implemented.